To get rid of the jitter, I tried to suspend my arms with some line. Unfortunately is it very windy here at the moment, but I took it up in 30 m and it looks very promising, because I clearly can see the moiré on the roofs of the houses and the single tiles. Normally moiré is very bad, but today I was happy to see it because it could mean that the jitter has gone.

In another thread I read about a guy, who had put some stringers between the armes.

Has anyone tried to go any of the two ways?

Claus.

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clausjepsen is talking about this thread .
The idea is to put some sort of 'arm braces' between the arms to make the construction more rigid, preventing arms from twisting. Jeffem62, who originally suggested it (see post #8), used wood but I'm thinking that using CF can provide some decent results.

Anything to stiffen up the DJI arms is probably a good thing. They flex quite a bit, which is why doing a Y6 conversion didn't work for me. I did make it better by tying each of the arms to the landing gear skids, but it still introduced a lot of vibration. The basic F550, with balanced props, is not near as bad, though, so I think the same sort of pre-tensioning of the arms will work well.

Alright, this topic has grown to such a huge size that I really can't read through it all.

Does anyone have any videos of the F550 frame in action? I mean, proper AP videos. Nice and stable ones. Still photos without blur. Can it be used for REAL aerial photography? I have the frame, controller, ESCs and everything. Leaping from a bare F550 to one equipped with a gimbal, arm extensions and bigger props is easy. But is it worth it?

The frame vibrates, I've seen videos taken from gimbals that are full of jello, vibrations etc. Show me how it's done!

Anything to stiffen up the DJI arms is probably a good thing. They flex quite a bit, which is why doing a Y6 conversion didn't work for me. I did make it better by tying each of the arms to the landing gear skids, but it still introduced a lot of vibration. The basic F550, with balanced props, is not near as bad, though, so I think the same sort of pre-tensioning of the arms will work well.

-- Gary

Interesting. I actually thought that Y6 should make it better since we have 2 counter rotating props so technically both torque effect and p-factor should sort of 'equalize' themselves. I never used Y6 config though and airplane-prop theory probably doesn't work that well here.

Quote:

Does anyone have any videos of the F550 frame in action?

The topic is huge , that's true. It would be great if someone could create some sort of FAQ, based on this thread. I'm trying to get through the first part of it sine I've been following it since early sept. and I see people repeating the same questions (me included).

Having said that, I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that videos you're looking for are somewhere at the very beginning, made by Gary using F550 / AG550NX

Yeah I just checked out some of those, it seems like you can get some very nice footage with the Askman gimbal + Hoverfly board for the stabilization. I want to know more about the setup, how the gimbal is mounted on the F550, where the Hoverfly board sits and so on.

EDIT: Here's one problem, the gimbal cannot be bought from Askmans website or the website he links to where it is supposedly sold. Its nowhere to be found.

I belive Gary is updating the website. PM Andrey or Gary with particular questions, however I simply used search function in this thread to get answers to most of my questions which were 99% similar to yours.

We've been busy with testing a bunch of different AG550v2 configurations, trying to get the last ounce of "extra" performance in gusty wind conditions and/or fast forward flight. We are now about as close as we can get, without major changes in IMS design, I think. Attached are a couple pics of the latest configuration. Our plan is to upgrade existing v2 setups to this configuration, for free. All new sales will already have these changes. Basically, Andrey has done a new tube and Delrin-based yoke, which adds even more rigidity to the gimbal. It was basically the last piece left where improvements could be made. The other change is to double up the thickness of the IMS center plate, to 6mm, again, to eliminate the last bit of flex in the mounting setup.

We now also have an effective secondary isolation system for the camera tray, which uses six EAR rubber isolators. This will not be part of the baseline v2 gimbal, but can be added as on option, or can be purchased and added later.

I believe my setup is pretty much the worst case, in terms of bounce susceptibility, with the 24mm Carl Zeiss prime lens on the NEX-5N. This lens weighs 1/2" pound, just by itself, and is a full ounce heavier than the 18-55mm kit lens, and a 1/4" longer. It also weighs over 3 times the weight of the 16mm pancake lens. This lens/camera setup should really be used with the larger AG700. Nonetheless, I think now we are getting pretty decent performance. The video below needs some explanation, though. I've had a couple crashes/hard landings of late (it happens... ) and now I've got some "issues" either with the Naza, its GPS module, or the Orange FASST receiver I'm using. The problem is that it will suddenly lose power, like you cut the throttle, but then recovers. It happens a couple of times in this video. The poor HFG board is struggling to still try and keep the camera level. The other problem is that I forgot to level the roll axis, after adjusting things when I installed this latest configuration, so the roll angle is tilted to one side during the whole video.

I also need to adjust the Naza gains up a bit for this fairly heavy setup, because I'm getting a lot of wobbling on descents, which is about the only time any vibrations/bounces get through to the camera now. I think I have them at 180 right now, and they ought to be a bit over 200, I think.

Anyway, new yoke kits and a second IMS CF plate will go out to all existing v2 users early next week. I hope to get the new website up by the end of the week, for new orders, including the EAR-based secondary isolation kits.

-- Gary

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Gary - Regarding "We now also have an effective secondary isolation system for the camera tray, which uses six EAR rubber isolators. This will not be part of the baseline v2 gimbal, but can be added as on option, or can be purchased and added later"

Any idea on price? Let me know as I maybe could add it when you send the new yoke?

Gary - Regarding "We now also have an effective secondary isolation system for the camera tray, which uses six EAR rubber isolators. This will not be part of the baseline v2 gimbal, but can be added as on option, or can be purchased and added later"

Any idea on price? Let me know as I maybe could add it when you send the new yoke?

The kits will be $35 and I will give everybody an option to add this to the free yoke/plate shipment.

Gary - Regarding "We now also have an effective secondary isolation system for the camera tray, which uses six EAR rubber isolators. This will not be part of the baseline v2 gimbal, but can be added as on option, or can be purchased and added later"

Any idea on price? Let me know as I maybe could add it when you send the new yoke?

I too will purchase so you can save the $$ on shipping and just ship it with the second plate.

I think the price was guesstimated at around $30, just let me know the solid amount and I will throw more money at yo faces.

WiseDuck:
I am flying the stock F550 with 10in Graupners, Naza-+GPS, 4S 45C 5000mah battery and I am getting great results. I too recently had a "spirited" landing and I think I am getting vibrations from the new balanced prop or the motor that hit hard. I would show off some of the video but I have been videoing a place that has some proprietary material and work processes.